1st Aircraft Purchase, 1972 Cherokee 180 G, Lancaster/Lebanon PA,

PASteven

New to the group and new to the Forum. Bought this Ac back in October of 2025 with a fresh overhaul and new prop. Got to fly it back from Texas with my CFI son over the course of 2 days, we had a blast ( I am ATP w/13000+hrs, CFI,CFII,MEI). We flew it around the pattern on the 3rd day (short flight). On the 4th Day we were 10mi south of our home airport when the Oil Gauge went to ZERO!!!! WELCOM TO AIRCRAFT OWNERSHIP, I GUESS. LOL Long story short the install mechanics in TX mistakenly left 2 paper towels in the mag holes while installing the engine and they came apart and eventually stopped the flow of oil. Luckily we caught it right away (my son actually), and landed without incident. Engine had to be removed and sent back for re-overhaul (after only 21hrs). We had everything pulled apart, new bearings, and back to zero time specs. That was a 2 month plus process (not bad), and got the plane back for 2 days before scheduled avionics upgrades. We added the HSI, Eng monitor, and Garmin 355 gps, all worth while upgrades! While the plane was down we cleaned, waxed, added new airtex carpets. I would like to get new side panels and leather seats at some point. Right now we are just happy to have the plane back in the air flying. New engine is purring and we have already had 2 oil changes and put about 40+ hours on it.

Looking forward to flying GA again and being able to help my son build time towards his future airline aspirations.

Another fun fact about this purchase. I bought this off of Trade-a-plane down in TX, and discovered that the original owner of this particular a/c back in 1972 was Charles J Colgan/Colgan Airways......MY FIRST BOSS AT THE AIRLINES!!!! Talk about a small world moment. After 911 Colgan air was my first airline gig and now I am flying around my boss's old plane, lol.....Let's not talk about the price I paid vs what he paid back in 1972.

Hope to learn a lot from this group and happy to on board!!!

Steven

MikeJJ

Hi Steven,

Welcome to Piper Owners! Wow, lucky you caught the oil starvation and were able to land shut it down before damage. If you were on a long cross country over mountainous terrain things could have been quite different.

Beautiful aircraft, and the provenance is remarkable! I use to be based in Baltimore Maryland and a favorite flight was to Lancaster for a grilled cheese and vanilla shake. Years ago they had a small counter with a grill.

Regards,

Mike

greygoose

Great looking plane. Welcome to the group. Lots of experience and collective knowldge.

Ben

planewrench

Steve great flying setup. Enjoy and nice history too. Carl

griff390

https://piperowner.org/talk/discussion/157631/1st-aircraft-purchase-1972-cherokee-180-g-lancaster-lebanon-pa

Steven;

Welcome to the group! Beautiful plane!